The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Coulthart wins Ward 3
Ward 6 still a toss-up
ONEIDA, N.Y. » While the Ward 6 councilor race is too close to call, James Coulthart came out on top in the three-way race for Ward 3.
“I think it was a well-contested race,” said Coulthart, who ran on the Democratic ticket. He felt regardless of who came out on top, the residents of Ward 3 would benefit.
“Jim’s a great guy,” said Republican challenger Joseph Zifchock. “He’ll do a good job, and I’ll be watching him all the way.”
“It was a lot of fun,” said Conservative challenger Jason Tiffin. “If anything, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Coulthart took 220 votes, Zifchock took 202, and Tiffin had 118 votes.
Despite his loss, Zifchock said he plans on remaining active in the community.
“I’m already a part of the fabric of the city,” he said.
InWard 6, Democrat Don Moore was only two votes behind Republican incumbent Tom Simchik. That race will be determined by absentee ballot.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Simchik, who said he’s optimistic about the results. IN the meantime, he wants to focus on the budget and other city issues.
“We didn’t do anything negative towards each other and I’m glad we didn’t,” Moore said. “We both ran a clean race.”
Regardless of who wins, Moore said he plans to remain active in the community.
“I’m not going to walk away from my community,” he said.
“There’s a few things I want to see through,” Simchik said.
Uncontested council races included Ward 1, where Democrat Alan Cohen received 352 votes; Ward 2, where Democrat Michael Bowe received 357 votes; Ward 4, where Helen Acker ran on both the Democrat and Republican tickets and received 162 votes; and Ward 5, where Democrat Jim Chamberlain received 192 votes, according to the Madison County Board of Elections.